RareCollections: Ruby, Rivers and Paradise for Peter Harris

By David Kilby and Jordie Kilby

The cover art for Peter Harris' 1976 LP Ruby inspired Jordie Kilby to pick up a copy in a coastal town second hand shop a few years back. It started a journey to track Peter down and discover more about his inspiration for the album and the other recordings he made.

Peter Harris studied piano and bassoon at the Sydney Conservatory before heading bush to Cooma where he spent time working on travelling theatre shows for the workers on the Snowy Hydro.

He moved back to Sydney in the early 70s and began teaching music.

One of his more adventurous guitar students was Dave Madden and they soon teamed up and eventually recorded a single and an LP together.

After the two parted ways Harris moved back to rural NSW, recorded Ruby and a series of music programs for the ABC.

Some of the music you can hear in this podcast includes:

Peter Harris - Beautiful Woman - Ritz Gramophone - 1976

Ruby was written while he was living in Wentworth where the Murrray and Darling Rivers meet. The album is full of songs inspired by the nature that surrounded him as well as the paddle steamers (Ruby) and the people (Beautiful Woman - his girlfriend).

Paul Gaffey - Mephistopheles - Festival - 1974

Getting his hands on an early Mellotron and being able to play it well meant all kinds of weird and wonderful session work in the mid 70s. A good example is the Mephistopheles LP, which was produced by Simon Heath with vocals by Paul Gaffey and the Johnny Rocco Band as the rhythm section.

Madden and Harris - Remember Me - Alberts - 1974

They cut one single for Alberts but its folk leanings where not really compatible with the pop market the single was released and marketed into and sadly it passed with little fanfare.

Toad - Peter Harris - ABC - Early 80s

ABC producer Cleon Dennis became a good friend and would often invite Peter to play on his sessions and sometimes invite him to create music features himself. One was built around characters from the book Wind In The Willows. This funky bit of fun captured the Toad behind the wheel of his car.

Untitled track from Endless Flight - Peter Harris - ABC - 1984

A second feature that Harris wrote and recorded for broadcast as part of the Moomba Festival in Melbourne re-told the story of Bourke and Wills in words and music. Some of the musicians he collaborated with on these features include Charlie Munro, Kerrie Biddell, Sydney String Quartet and Errol Buddle.

Madden and Harris - Wishes - Jasmine - 1975

Fools Paradise was the album created by Madden and Harris and inspired by a painting that adorned the sleeve. Only a few hundred copies of it were pressed and it was hard to come by until it was reissued a few years ago. Interestingly one of the biggest markets for the re-issue was South Korea.